DRUG TESTING AND COLLEGE ATHLETES

"The polls show us that in most people's minds, it is the number one problem in the country" (Smith 18). In this statement made in an interview with Newsweek magazine, President Ronald Reagan is justifying his administration's war on drugs. This war is partially in response to statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, indicating an upward trend in certain kinds of drug use among high school, college students and young adults (Bachman and O'Malley 15). For example, the use of cocaine by college students is up to 17 percent while the number of students using cocaine in more dangerous forms (smoking rather than snorting) has doubled since 1983 (Smith 10). Further, those reporting daily use have also doubled. More importantly, the number of college students indicating that they had begun using coke and were consequently unable to stop has doubled since 1983. Despite these discouraging trends, the finding which deserves the most concern shows that those who have tried these drugs during their high school years have increased steadily to an astonishing 80 percent. The drug epidemic appears to be infiltrating deeper into society. Thus, President Reagan's statements reflecting his concern for the drug plague appear to be in accordance with these statistics. As a result, a national program has to be developed to give firepower to this war on drugs: programs that would make drugs difficult to use while getting

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Despite these methods of beating the drug testing system, there are alternatives to the current test taking conditions that would be less embarrassing for athletes. For example, one alternative is to first have each athlete slip into a hospital gown or his undergarments. Then, the athlete would be led into a private bathroom where the sample could be collected. The possibility of using someone else's urine would be removed while still avoiding the watchful eye of the NCAA "piss monitors" (Lis 15, 19). Consequently, those needing help for drug use will not be able to escape the treatment they so desperately need. Another aspect of the drug testing program that the athletes are protesting is that they feel they are being unfairly singled out of the collegiate population. The athletes believe that it is a violation of their rights as students to be treated differently from the rest of the student body. Further, some statistics show that college athletes do not use drugs any more than other college students (Selby and Weinstein 10). Therefore, the athletes not only feel that the tests are unfair, but unjustified as well. They argue that if the NCAA is going to test at all, they should not isolate the athletes but should te

Category: Government - D